


To Boldly Go Where No Fish Have Gone Before

by artificiallifecreator



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 06:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1768081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artificiallifecreator/pseuds/artificiallifecreator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Post movie)</p><p>Newt got a betta fish, and then Newt's boss got a betta fish, and then Hannibal got five black ghost knifefish and named them after Kaiju. </p><p>And then there's Ming, a university student who occasionally makes money cleaning fish tanks. She's in the Maths department with friends in the Biology department and the means to build THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [irisbleufic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/irisbleufic/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Anthology](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1075605) by [irisbleufic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/irisbleufic/pseuds/irisbleufic). 



> (You may want to read Chapter 28 of Anthology.)
> 
> The key element, however, is the 60 gallon aquarium in Hannibal's office where he's built a tidy habitat for five ghost knifefish. 
> 
> They only look like piranhas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (You may want to read Chapter 28 of Anthology.)
> 
> The key element, however, is the 60 gallon aquarium in Hannibal's office where he's built a tidy habitat for five ghost knifefish. 
> 
> They only look like piranhas.

Ming Yan had friends in the biology department. Not 'friends' but actual buddies with whom she texted and had drinks and generally communicated. It came up during one of these 'general communications' that blueprints for a certain aquarium occasionally circulated the department, 'occasionally' meaning 'now', along with a note from the Dean of Biology that anyone who succeeded in building such a contraption and getting a marine life form to navigate a maze _could_ be up for an award.

"Think we should?" asked Ming.

"Make one of those?" said Sōng. "Think we can?"

"Won't know 'till we try."

"Then let's do it!"

  


So they got to work. Unfortunately, the unholy triumvirate of wisdom teeth, an infection, and a more-difficult-than-anyone-expected extraction stuck Sōng down and left Ming to understand, assemble, and test the thing by herself while her friend suffered migraines, rode a painkiller-induced highs, and drooled herself to sleep, all in the same month. In one of her rare lucid moments, Sōng promised Ming the prize money and Key Contributor if she could keep her name on the project. Ming assured her she hadn't even considered striking off her name, but Sōng'd already passed out (again).

  


So, Ming watched roughly fifty hours of YouTube videos, consulted a number of security alarm manuals, and bothered the Mechanical Engineering department. She had everything she needed save for one exception:

"Hey, can I borrow Knifehead?"

"Why?" growled Hannibal.

"Science project."

"You're in math."

Ming's eye twitched. ( _it's MATHS_.) "I am. It's for biology."

"You passed that course."

"I did. I've entered a contest with a friend."

"Who's the friend?"

"Irrelevant I'm afraid, she won't be coming."

"Who is the friend?"

"A person drugged out of her mind from surgery."

"When's the contest?"

"A week tomorrow."

"What do you have to do?"

"Make sure it works."

"For the contest."

"Get a fish to navigate a maze."

"Why do you want Knifehead?"

"I want something you can see from a distance and looks really, really cool."

"Be here at 8 sharp tomorrow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sōng is mine, created especially for this fic (hello Sōng, welcome to the family!), Ming and Lu (yet to appear) belong to irisbleufic.


	2. The Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ming's contraption needs a name. Who better to ask than her former biology professor, current maths professor, and owners of the fish she babysits?

That afternoon, Ming announced "It's the Doctors G!" from down the hall. 

Newt and Hermann quickly eyeballed each other and, lo and behold, for once actually appeared respectable.

"Good morning Miss Yan," said Hermann.

"'Morning Ming," said Newt.

"Good morning, it's great to see you, I need help," greeted Ming, flopping onto the floor.

"We'll do anything we can," assured Hermann.

"Awesome. You guys know about the Biology Fair?"

"Yes! It sounds incredible and I can't wait!" Newt replied. "I can't enter Bertie though..."

"Aww! Being Faculty can seriously suck."

"Yes, an ineligibility to participate in contests is truly the worst aspect of teaching. Marking endless hordes of terrible papers cannot hope to hold a candle."

"But you also get to read great papers."

"She's got you there Herms."

"You needed something Miss Yan?"

"Right! Biology Fair. I'm entering..." Ming pulled up a picture on her phone. "...This, with a friend."

"Is that...?" muttered Newt.

"Yes, and it needs a name."

"Should your friend not be with you?"

"Don't even go there. She is _fucked. up._ beyond belief right now. Gave me the... red card on all decisions."

"I think we're having a cultural mis-moment," said Newt. "Because you just told us she veto'd any of your plans."

"Oh." Ming frowned. "Well, she did the opposite of that. _When_ she was lucid. So," she clasped her hands, "I need something _seriously_ badass to call this baby."

"The _Challenger Deep_ ," said Hermann. "It's the name of a spaceship - it met an unfortunate end, sadly - from the STS/Mir era of space travel." He leaned forward and pointed at the caption. "It would fit with the _Star Trek_ theme."

"I thought it was just _Challenger_ ," said Newt.

Hermann rolled his eyes. "Yes, thank you Newton, the space ship was just _Challenger_ , however." Hermann adjusts the grip on his cane, "if you're doing what I think you're doing - which I shan't condone _but_ you are an adult - will be of particular relevance." Ming and Newt are entranced. "The entire phrase belongs to the deepest part of the Mariana's Trench, where, if you recall-,"  


"The Breach opened," Ming breathed. Her eyes, wide as saucers, shone with excitement. "That's _perfect._ " She leaps to her feet. "Oh my god Doctor G I love you I could kiss that is so unbelievably- if there was a scale for 'perfect', you'd have just broken it. Smashed it. Destroyed it into a thousand - a billion! - smithereens." She hopped with excitment. "Oh my god I _have_ got to tell Song about this!!!"

"Very well," Doctor Gottlieb turned back to his desk, shooing her away, "be off with you, crazy girl."

"Thank you so much Doctor G that is so awesome Song is going to _fliipppp_!!!"

"Ming! Shoo! You'll explode!" laughed Newt.

"Right! Going! Byee!!" She shot from the office.

“Dude," began Newt, "that is such wickedly black humour I could- I can! Kiss you.”

Ming shot right back in a minute later. 

"Thank you guys so much-,"

"Ming!"

"Ah crap sorry guys- Sorry!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sōng is mine, created especially for this fic (hello Sōng, welcome to the family!), Ming and Lu belong to irisbleufic.


	3. The Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ming shows off THE MOST AWESOME CONTRAPTION EVER .

At 8am sharp the next day, Ming set up her kit (and a dish towel) with Hannibal looming and Lu asking questions, like "how will the water be right?"

"Just like this," explained Ming and handed Lu the plastic. "Can you hold this for a second?" She hopped up on the stepstool with a fistful of food and stuck her arm in the tank.

Fish soon mobbed her hand and she gestured for the box. She put in her other arm and offered the plastic.

Everyone swam over and inspected it - Reckoner actually darted in and out - and then Ming shooed them all away except for Knifehead.

He circled slowly and rubbed up against her hand as if considering his options, and then decided to go for it. He swam in, nosed the corners, and finally stilled.

"Stop _looming_ ," hissed Lu.

Ming got her other hand on the box and tilted it (almost) flat.

Knifehead still seemed perfectly chill.

"Ok buddy, out we go," she murmured and eased it from the tank. The water levelled out, and she angled it all-the-way flat.

Knifehead wondered why the water left but otherwise found the proceedings mildly interesting.

Ming stepped down from the stool and slowly beelined to the dish towel (Lu pulling Hannibal out of her way).

Once she'd dried off the box, she slid it in the propelling cradle, and clicked the back gate shut.

Knifehead followed her hands and, Ming could be wrong, wiggled with excitement.

"Guys ready?"

"Yes!" said Lu. "To boldly watch where few fish have gone before!"

Hannibal glowered.

Ming closed the circuit.

_Knock knock_

"Come in," called Hannibal.

Knifehead went to investigated the noise. Now he could!

"Mr Chau, this just arrived for you," said an underling, stepping into the office.

And stepped right _back_ out, tripped over his feet, and scrambled away, fully grown male ghost knifefish hot on his tail.

Hannibal roared with laughter.

Lu doubled over with mirth.

"I think a smaller engine may be necessary," Ming giggled.

"You - teehee - might wanna consider that," Lu chuckled.

"HELP!!"

"After you get my fish back."

"Right, right." Ming got to her feet and swayed a bit she was laughing so much. "On it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sōng is mine, created especially for this fic (hello Sōng, welcome to the family!), Ming and Lu (yet to appear) belong to irisbleufic.


End file.
